gation; and Verkhne-Udinsk (9,500), a railway and industrial centre in Transbaikalia. The towns of the far N. are small and primitive. Yakutsk, a fur-trading centre on the Lena, has a pop. of 8,200 and Verkhoyansk, on the Yana, only 450. The pop. of Sredne-Kolimsk, on the Kolima, which is the largest centre in the N.E. of Siberia, is 650. Petropavlovsk, the capital of Kamchatka, has fallen to some 500; Alexandrovsk, the capital of Russian Sakhalin, about 6,000, a figure, however, which includes more natives than Russians; and Okhotsk to less than three hundred.
Agriculture.—In western Siberia about 17,000 sq. m. are under crops (1913) but there are still great areas of natural grassland waiting for cultivation. In eastern Siberia agriculture has not made great progress except in the southern Ussuri plain: natural grasslands are scarce but there are many forest areas on the Amur which, if cleared, would afford good agricultural land. The area under crops in eastern Siberia is 2,800 sq. m. (1913). Agricultural methods in the W. have undergone some improvement, through the use of fertilizers and the importation of American agricultural machinery. Many flour-mills have been erected. Western Siberia sends its surplus wheat to Russia and eastern Siberia. The latter region also imports corn from Manchuria. In 1913 the total cereal production of Siberia was 68,200 cwt. and the average annual production (1908–13) was 50,200 cwt.
Land Tenure.—After the revolution of 1917 the State became the owner of all land in Siberia except some 5,000,000 ac. granted to Cossacks or other private persons. All other holders of land are tenants of the State, enjoying in some cases hereditary leases. The State ownership would seem to apply also to minerals, timber, fisheries and water power but some concessions have been recognized in favour of foreigners.
Live Stock.—The rearing of live stock has made more progress than agriculture. In 1913 the Steppe towns of Petropavlovsk and Omsk had become great centres for the export of meat to European Russia, drawing a large part of their supply from the Tomsk province. In the Transbaikal, Amur, and Maritime provinces cattle-breeding promises to attain greater importance than agriculture, but the meat supply of eastern Siberia is partly dependent on imports from Manchuria. The successful acclimatization of the merino sheep in central Siberia holds promise of much wool production in the Yeniseisk and Irkutsk provinces. Pig-breeding is a growing industry in western and central Siberia and by 1914 bacon exports had become important. Reindeer-breeding is the chief occupation of most of the far northern tribes. Maral deer and other species of wapiti are bred in the Altai, the Maritime province and elsewhere for their horns, which to the Chinese have a reputed medicinal value. The official figures (in round numbers) for the number of live stock in Siberia in 1911 and 1914 are as follows:—
| Horses | Horned cattle | Sheep and goats | Pigs | |
| 1911 | 4,598,000 | 5,719,000 | 5,250,000 | 1,126,000 |
| 1914 | 4,840,000 | 6,541,000 | 5,745,000 | 1,428,000 |
The dairy industry has developed quickly, fostered by State encouragement and the export facilities afforded by the railway. In 1912 there were 1,060 coöperative dairies in the Tobolsk province, and 2,042 in the Tomsk province. The export of butter from western Siberia reached 35,000 tons in 1903 and 76,000 tons in 1913: in the latter year the home consumption accounted for an additional 75,000 tons. The industry is of less importance in eastern Siberia.
Hunting.—The fur industry retains great importance and was much stimulated during the early years of the World War by the high price of skins. But decrease of game is causing hunting in many parts of the N. to take a secondary place to fishing and reindeer-breeding. The sable became so scarce that from 1913 to 1916 its slaughter was forbidden. The white fox is becoming rare. The principal fur fairs are at Irbit (Feb.) and Yakutsk (July), but Ishim, Blagovyeshchensk, Nikolaevsk and Anyui are also frequented by traders in search of furs. Yakutsk has also a trade in fossil ivory from the New Siberia Is.: in 1913 nearly 20 tons were sold. In order to prevent their extermination the few seals of the Commander Is. were protected for five years from 1912.
Fishing.—In western Siberia the most important fisheries are on the Ob. Tobolsk is the headquarters of the industry: Obdorsk, Beresov, Surgut and Narim are also important centres. At least 10,000 men take part in the fishery and the annual ratch is about 15,000 tons. On the upper Irtish Pavlodar and Lake Zaisan are centres of fishing. The fisheries of the lower Yenisei send S. about 3,000 tons every year. In Lake Baikal there are valuable fisheries both in summer and, through the ice, in winter. In the Lena and Kolima regions the natives live chiefly on fish but lack of transport facilities prevents export. Fisheries in the Amur, Okhotsk and Kamchatka regions steadily increase in importance. The fish are mainly species of salmon but not the same as those in western Siberia. The fisheries are largely in Japanese hands but legislation in 1899 restricted to Russians all fisheries in the Amur and its estuuary. In 1913 the mouths of certain rivers on the Okhotsk and Kamchatka coasts were closed to all fishing in order to conserve the fisheries. In 1913 the Okhotsk and Kamchatka fisheries resulted in a total catch of 46,000,000 salmon, most of which went to Japan. Salmon caviar to the extent of 2,477 tons was exported from the same districts. Salmon-canning is a new industry: in 1913 the output from Kamchatka was over 500,000 tins, and from the lower Amur 100,000 tins. Attempts to send frozen fish from the Amur to Europe met with some success when begun in 1913. The fisheries of Russian Sakhalin are losing their importance. In the Sea of Japan the herring-fishing from Imperial and Peter the Great bays is growing in value.
Timber.—Siberian forests of commercial timber are estimated to cover about 470,000 sq. m. or about one-tenth of the total area of the country, but owing to absence of transport facilities only 150,000 sq. m. are considered to be exploitable. In western Siberia there is little trade in timber and the demands for home use and the havoc of forest fires are decreasing the available supply. The principal saw-mills are at Tobolsk, Tyumen, Omsk, Novo-Nikolaevsk and Tomsk. In eastern Siberia the timber industry is confined to the Amur and Maritime provinces except in respect of the demand for fuel for railway, industrial and domestic purposes. The principal saw-mills are at Irkutsk, Blagovyeshchensk, Nikolaevsk, Imperial Bay, Vladivostok and Alexandrovsk (Sakhalin). Export is from Vladivostok, Imperial, Olgi and Posiet bays to Australia, the British Isles and Japan. Before the war great efforts were being made to encourage this trade.
Minerals.—Gold is the most important mineral in Siberia. The Lena drainage area, especially the valleys of the Olekma and Vitim, is considered to be the richest gold-producing area in the world. All the gold worked is alluvial and the annual yield (1916) was some 400,000 oz. Bodaibo, connected by rail to the Vitim, is the centre of the industry. The gold-fields of the Amur valley when fully explored will probably prove to be even greater in extent. The new town of Zeya Frisian on the Zeya is the principal mining centre on the middle Amur. The Bureya valley is also rich in gold. On the lower Amur there are rich gold-fields near Lake Chyla. The Amur gold is alluvial and most of it is very fine. British interests control the principal gold-fields of both the Lena and Amur basins. Gold is reported from several places on the Sea of Okhotsk, in the Chukchee peninsula and in the Anadir region. The output in Transbaikalia is falling off. In the Yeniseisk region there are valuable deposits in the Abakan valley. In western Siberia the gold output is declining but, as placer mining gives way to quartz crushing, shows prospect of reviving. Quartz veins are rich in the neighbourhood of Ust-Kamenogorsk and Lake Zaisan. The gold-bearing rocks in Siberia as a whole, including the Urals, are estimated to cover over 800,000 sq. miles. The total output of gold in 1913 was estimated at 1,500,000 oz., of which over 90% was from eastern Siberia; but there is reason to doubt the accuracy of official figures. In the same year the number of men employed in the gold industry in Siberia was 56,400. Climate, labour and transport, apart from political difficulties, afford obstacles in the development of the industry. The output of silver has shown a decline for many years, but numerous rich deposits are known to exist in the Altai region and around Nerchinsk. The production of zinc has increased, largely due to the rich Tyutikha mines in the Priamur. Lead is obtained from these mines and also from the Altai mountains and Ust Orlinskaya on the Lena. Zinc and lead mines at Riderski in the Altai are linked to the Irtish by a 70-m. narrow-gauge railway. Tin occurs in the Onon valley in Transbaikalia, but it is little worked. New deposits of graphite have been reported from Cape Dezhneva on Bering Strait. Copper occurs mainly in the Urals and in the Karkaralinsk district of the Kirghiz steppes, both of which regions are outside Siberia proper. There has been little if any progress in the production of iron except in the Urals, but valuable deposits of iron ore are reported in the Amgun valley near the Amur mouth, in the vicinity of Vladimir and Olgi Bays in the Priamur, in many parts of the Altai and near Karkaralinsk in the Steppes. Considerable coal deposits of varying quality have been located, but comparatively few are mined. Want of markets and transport facilities are drawbacks even where the coal is of good quality. The most promising deposits are the Kuznetsk beds in the Altai region which contain coking coal; beds around Cheremkhoyskoe, 70 m. W. of Irkutsk, where some 5,000,000 tons of lignitic coal are mined annually, principally for use on the railway; the Suchan mines, 60 m. from America Bay, on the Sea of Japan, and the Mongugai beds near Amur Bay on the Tartary coast. The Mongugai beds and those at Due in Sakhalin both consist of good anthracitic coal but neither is seriously worked. Coal in the Amur and Lena valleys and Transbaikalia is chiefly lignitic. There are large deposits of lignite at Baron Korfa Gulf in Kamchatka. In the Kirghiz steppe coking coal is worked at Ekibas-tuse. The mines, which are controlled by a British company, are connected with the Irtish at Yermak by a railway 70 m. in length. Petroleum-bearing strata exist on the eastern shores of Lake Baikal and near Nabilski Bay in Sakhalin, but the oil is not exploited.
Manufactures.—Manufactures on a large scale have made little progress except in engineering works and repair shops for the railways. The competition of the Ural iron foundries, which have better transport facilities, has adversely affected the Siberian foundries, but a few persist, notably at Petrovsk in Transbaikalia, Blagovyeshchensk and Tyumen. At Ekibas-tuse in the Steppes the zinc and lead ores from the Riderski mine are smelted. Some river ports, as Khabarovsk, Blagovyeshchensk, build and repair vessels.